Protect: Paid subscription warnings

To subscribe to a paid phone service, just click the appropriate button on the service's website page. Yandex.Browser uses the Protect integrated security system to warn you about paid subscriptions so that you agree to them only when you really need to.

What are paid subscriptions?

Paid subscriptions are one way to pay for internet-based services. Using a paid subscription, you can, for example, set up an answering service
on your cell phone or sign up for weather forecasts sent by SMS on a weekly basis. To sign up, just follow the link to your
mobile service provider’s page and click to confirm your subscription. Some content providers abuse simple subscription setups
and sign users up for services they don’t know they’re paying for.

Although mobile subscription pages are hosted on the websites of mobile network operators, their content is determined by
outside content providers. Some of these content providers deliberately conceal information about paid services. For example,
the payment button might be labeled Play or Enter and the message informing you that the service is paid may be written in small letters or hidden beyond the visible part
of the screen. By tapping just one button on one of these sites, you can initiate daily withdrawals from your mobile balance.

It is particularly easy to end up in this position if you get to such a site using a computer rather than a mobile device.
This is because it is harder to notice small letters on a bigger screen.

According to Yandex's data, about 20% of users land on pages with a mobile subscription from their computers. One of the reasons
for this is the popularity of 3G modems that are often used together with Wi-Fi routers. Additionally, pages containing paid
subscriptions may open malicious extensions.

Paid subscription warnings

If you end up on a mobile service provider's page that contains a paid subscription, Yandex.Browser will display a warning
in the browser window and you'll see the icon on the right side of the SmartBox. Click Proceed only if you really intend to pay for a subscription.

Disabling protection

Attention. If you want to disable warnings about paid subscriptions, you will have to completely disable protection against malware and
malicious sites in the browser. We strongly recommend that you don’t do this.

To disable warnings about paid subscriptions:

Click → Settings.

In the lower half of the Settings page, click Show advanced settings.

In the Protection against malware and malicious sites section, turn off Enable protection against malware and malicious sites.

Restart the browser to apply the changes.

Use the same procedure to re-enable warnings about paid subscriptions.